Swimming pools commonly require a significant amount of maintenance. Beyond the treatment and filtration of pool water, the bottom wall (the “floor”) and side walls of a pool (the floor and the side walls collectively, the “walls” of the pool) must be scrubbed regularly. Additionally, leaves and other debris often times elude a pool filtration system and settle on the bottom of the pool. Conventional means for scrubbing and/or cleaning a pool, e.g., nets, handheld vacuums, etc., require tedious and arduous efforts by the user, which can make owning a pool a commitment.
Automated pool cleaning devices, such as the TigerShark or TigerShark 2 by AquaVac®, have been developed to routinely navigate about the pool walls, cleaning as they go. A pump system continuously circulates water through an internal filter assembly capturing debris therein. A rotating cylindrical roller (formed of foam and/or provided with a brush) can be included on the bottom of the unit to scrub the pool walls.
While an automated pool cleaning device greatly facilitates pool maintenance, the unit itself is to be maintained, such as by cleaning or replacing the filter assembly and/or roller, brush, etc. For example, maintenance and/or replacement of a brush assembly for a conventional automated pool cleaning device can be made difficult by the location of the brush assembly. Regarding filter maintenance, it is known in the art to provide filters that are bottom-accessible, e.g., accessible by a hatch/door underneath a pool cleaning device, and it is not uncommon for such devices to be flipped upside-down to enable cleaning and/or replacement of the filter. It is known to provide a top-accessible filter of the bucket-type, such as that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,409,916, though such appears to include a flow path for unfiltered fluid that is circuitous.
What is needed in the art is a cleaning device with enhanced ease of use to overcome these and/or other disadvantages.